Feel me Rise!!!

My mind runs amok,
like the wild horse without any reins.

It keeps seeking for the new horizons,
without any fear or guilt of loss.

Trying always to set me free and make me soar high,
like an eagle in the clear blue sky.

For my soul seeks no boundaries
breaking all the shackles of my fear.

Wanting to burn a lamp in the windy meadows,
yearning every bit to brighten my day.

With all my energy that i could share,
Oh! my friend feel me rise, with every breath that I take.

Peace and Grandee

Mother Nature has so many treasures and one of the most beautiful creations is “The Avian” life... As much fascinating they are to watch, they seem to be equally difficult to capture their movements. Recently, I did my annual ritual of going to Vedanthangal.. One of the best bird sanctuary in Chennai. All you need to do is to plan to spend your day there with these beautiful creatures.

This place is close to 75 kms from Chennai on the GST road. Though the main road is a very good drive, but the inner road of last 14 Kms could be better. I felt that last stretch gives you the feel that you are getting into a reserve area.

It is stated that the local people actually care for the birds and protect them too. I get awed with not only by their majesty, but by their flamboyant colours and sizes. They do really come in various sizes and they are BEAUTIFUUUUULLL!!!

This time when we planned for the travel the idea was to shoot the birds and capture their moves. I wanted to experiment with my camera. Happen to reach their by 11 am and set my equipment to start shooting. One thing for sure that shooting birds teach you Patience and patience and patience... and then there are times when I am so much awed by the beauty of the birds that I tend to forget the intent of being there. You could find “Grey Pelican, painted stork, vsnake bird, Open-billed stork, large egret and many more…

Some of these large birds, one would wonder, how can they fly so swiftly? They are so so huge, and then their wings are very strong to enable them for the cross continent movement. Though when they try to get onto the water, they do not land, the large ones crash land and then they glide too on the water. The proverb stands so true, “Duck looks so calm on outside but keeps flipping its webbed feet hard underneath”. The elegance and grandeur personified.

The beauty and vibrant spread makes me wonder could we humans ever bring that out. One could simply be awed.

Co-existence is something that we humans should really learn from Mother Nature. There happen to be this one particular shrub, which is right in across a “Bird watch platform” that had a lot of these Grey Pelicans which stay. If my observation is right, that place is marked out for these large birds year on year. At the first sight one would think that it is a monopoly of these large birds but when you keenly observation, one could see hoards of bats hanging underneath their nests. It
was amazing to see the co-existence. Neither of them is troubled by it. You could think, “Live and Let live” staring right into you. We humans have so much to learn from Mother Nature. Some part of us does try to live in that co-existence. The villagers protect these birds because they find the birds to be very helpful. During the late monsoon season that Chennai has, the water bridges between the sanctuary and the farm lands are closed so that the place could be filled up with water for the Birds to come and stay. The birds fly in and stay between November till Feb. Once the birds have moved out as the temperature gets more warmer, the water is released to the nearby farm lands. This water is supposed to be filled with a lot of manure and helps the fields with a good yield. One would not need any more of these artificial chemicals to make the fields yield better… Support to the ecosystem is balanced.
We were there till 3.30 pm, if not for the thought to drive back home. But, as I drove back I had taken with me not only the movements but also lot of memories and refreshed..

The place is well cut off from all the hustle and business. What they say, that time slows down is very true at that place. The sound of the birds, the shade of the trees and the cool cool breeze, just helps you unwind and puts your mind at peace. All so so SO beautiful. For me this is a heavenly place which, I intend to visit every year…

Fishing...

Fishermen in Chennai.. well I am not talking about the ones that go out in the high tides.. These were the ones that were hunting for fishes in the backwaters some kms into the city.. While driving down an old connecting road between the OMR & ECR, i happened to stop by a backwater and had stepped out of the car to look at the scenic beauty and thought of doing some shutterbugging.. well well, before my camera bateries dried out, i happened to capture this lovely snaps...
Even my wife could not stop taking a snap of this priced possesion by the fisherman who wanted to sell this complete lot of fishes for just Rs. 500/-.... Though we wanted to picked some, but for the deal was, "All or none"...


Too much for a family but too less for the camers ;)

My Hydrabadi Guide...

Sahabji, do you see that lights there, that used to my aunty's house where we used to come to spend our summer vacation time. That time this place used to have hardly 30-40 houses and no lights. In the evening you can see only one light and that too from a bunglow some two Kms down the "kacha" road. We use to go to the canal nearby where the water used to be two man deep and we used to play for hours!! The same canal supplies to drinking water to the whole of Hyderabad... Now that canal is a dried nala but the damn still manages to hold water to supply the city...

We used to tell our parents that we want to go to the village. My Aunty's place was the village that we used to go and we used to say that we live in a city. Now look at it today, this very part that we called as village is now very much an intergral part of the Hyderabad city and is developing fast... look at those lights... all the houses lit up.. Thinking of buying a plot now on this road.. forget it sabji.. my dream is already shattered.. I am now looking out for a piece of land in my "in-laws" place which is very far off in some interior.. Hope by the time i think of buying a land there, it still would be village.. saying this he gets into a hysterical laugh..

A memorable journey on a bright evening from the heart of the city to the new Airport at a place called "Samsahbad" in Hyderabad... The scene of hyderabad is fast changing. Even though they say that the innocence of the city seems to be moving away from it, but the charm of its people is still bringht and well lit...

And I... love it the way Hyderabad was and is today....

Rocking...

It was a desire to do a bit of rock climbing which got fulfilled on my travel to Trivandrum.. The adrenaline rush was really high.. Looking from the ground level the cliff seemed to be small but as I went up the cliff, the fall was really steep. This seemed to be an old quarry which is now used for adventure sport. On one hand I could see the greenery in front of me, spread in vastness, while on the other hand the mere fall gave me goose bumps. The guy on the top helped me with the harness and the loops. My friends said, Sid no problemo, use just need to go perpendicular to the cliff and keep walking down.. It is not at all difficult. I said, if that is it then fine, no problemo. Bloody hell, how would I know the pain and the pleasure in going down. So 1o mtrs down and I realized, that I am all shaky and can't even think of going up. The only choice left was to go down. I said to myself, Sid, you have to go down at any cost, so better enjoy the way down. Believe me, I just enjoyed apart from the shaky feeling inside. My friends kept saying, Sid you are almost there, bend down... leave more rope.. I was telling myself, "Shut-up, I can do it". What ever said and done, their support helped me in going on till I did Touch down..

Once I manage to foot my foot down on the ground, I was like, WoW!! i made it.. It is an amazing feeling, difficult to describe... The feeling now, is what next. Rock climbing is done, Can I look for some para sailing. Who knows I may actually end up doing that..

Happy Drive ;)

It has been a while that I have come across drivers who have a funny and sunny side of looking at life. I have been travelling quite a while and most of the time I end up with a driver who is either groggy or angry with the world. They drive as if every body in this world is an enemy and the road a battle field.

Well, today happen to come across "Amir" who had a funny way of looking at things. While being stuck in the traffic for close to half an hour, he said, "Shall I order for the food". The cop may be of good help to us. With a lot of maneuvering we managed to reach the traffic signal but were still stuck. When the cop let us go, he started saying to the other fellow traffic mates, let's go before he (Cop) runs out of his quota.

It was really funny the way he spoke. :)

Autodisk!!!

Travel life in Mumbai Auto is so funny. I happened to travel from Powai to Thane. My first surprise was that the auto driver from Powai said he can drop me only at the Thane Toll gate. Beyond that I had to catch another auto to travel inside Thane. I have changed buses / trains / flights to reach a destination but Autos!??! Wow that was an adventure..

The second pleasant and funny was the travel and the negotiation of traffic. We three (Myself, driver & his auto) were stuck in the traffic. The driver said, “sabji, pakde rahna” (Sir, pl. hang on), with these words, he moved through the gaps onto the footpath which was filled with potholes due to the major rains. Then started the lovely bumpy ride for close to a kilometer. Thanks to his maneuvering we managed to come in front of the travel and I managed not to have a slip disk…

You need to have a special disk in your back called “Autodisk”!!!